For as long as I can remember, I have loved trains. When I was 7 years old I had my first Thomas the Tank Engine birthday party with all of my friends. During college, I commuted to school (by choice) by taking the train into Chicago. On one of our first dates, my wife and I ate dinner at a restaurant near a train station and then decided to throw our cupcakes at a train that passed by. Bizarre, I know, but it was an incredibly fun date. And it involved a train.
For many kids — and even many adults — there’s something captivating about trains. They’re big, powerful, fast, and fun. And trains are the perfect birthday party theme for your kid’s next party. (And Thomas the Tank Engine doesn’t have to the only train birthday party theme you do – there are many different train themed birthday party ideas you could try!)
Let’s look at some train birthday party ideas to help you brainstorm ideas for your own party:
Train Birthday Party Invitation Ideas
We love the idea of starting the party expectations super high by sending out creative train-themed birthday invitations. You can go to your nearest UPS Store, Staples, or Walgreens to print out custom invitations to help fit your desired train birthday party theme. Or if you want to order skip a step and order custom invitations from a specialty website just like the examples above, you can order directly from Storybook or Etsy with a touch of your own personalizations.
Train Birthday Party Food Ideas
Another way to carry out the train birthday party theme is to incorporate the train ideas into the food, snacks, and treats! Kids will LOVE the fact they are eating “real train” snacks! We love ideas that have been tested and used by popular Mommy Blogs such as Moms & Munchkins. A great “play on food” can be used if you’re creative enough! Here, you can see chips being assembled like they are actually in a train convoy! This is a great way to get your kiddos excited about the opportunities of the party!
If you don’t feel like assembling the food or snacks like an actual train is a party aspect you absolutely need, there are other ways to have trains be apart of the food! You can incorporate aspects about the railroad into the food like cones, train tracks, train whistles, railroad logs, and many others. In this example, cones were used as holders for the popcorn and a toy train was used as a container to hold the M&M’s! This is another great way to keep the kids entertained even while eating!
There are also many ideas you can incorporate for the treats at your train birthday party! The most popular dessert ideas for train birthday parties are:
- Railroad cookies. Just decorate the tops of sugar cookies with icing to make the famous Railroad Crossing sign.
- Cupcakes arranged in the shape of a train. You know what I’m talking about; black cupcake frosting for the “tires”, blue frosting for the body of the train, and even other icing colors to decorate the train.
- Stoplight Rice Crispy Treats. Just simply buy or bake Rice Crispy Treats and add red, yellow, and green M&M’s arranged to look like a stoplight! This is a super simple and easy touch to a fun treat.
Train Birthday Party Games & Activity Stations
Games and activities are my favorite part of any party, especially when they are consistent with the party theme! Let me tell you my favorite finds for train-themed games and activities that will keep kids entertained and engaged:
1. “Toss The Coal In The Hole”
In this game, the kids have a designated hole they have to throw their coal-like bags into (think of adult cornhole). You can place markers on the ground and to keep kids entertained, make the “levels” or markers move further back, which makes the game harder as you advance. This is a super easy game to DIY. You can get any unused box and cut an appropriate-sized hole in the top. The “coal bags” can be from cornhole bags or DIY bags made of black cloth filled with a soft, yet dense material. You can always add your own twist to the decorations and games, that’s why it’s called DIY!
2. Train BINGO 
I love this for a kids party! This is a great way to get everyone together before present-opening. There are many online sites to get free printable bingo templates, so this could be a cheap and easy activity! Want to throw another twist into the game? Use small train toys or train accessories (cones, tires, stop lights, etc) as your bingo pieces! You can laminate your BINGO cards to help protect the game sets and re-use them for other parties!
3. Build-A-Train 
I love the idea of having a station for kids to get creative and add their own touch to the train party. They can sit down, make a train, and have a memory of making their very own train! This can also be an inexpensive way to keep kids entertained for a long time. Also, the decorative options are up to you, so kids can use as much or as little messy products to assemble their own train as you want!
Train Birthday Party Favor Ideas
Another way to make others remember your awesome party is to let your guests leave on a high note. Party favors are the best way to help your guests take home more than memories. One good thing about having a train birthday party is the endless possibilities of party favor items! We love the idea of gifting back train whistles, train hats, train-shaped or train-related candy, and more. We even found the idea of gifting Play-Doh with a train-shaped cookie cutter on Etsy for a cheap and out-of-the box party favor idea.
The Main Event: The Mini Express Trackless Train Rental
What would a train birthday party be without a real live trackless train for kids to ride on? With our Mini Express Trackless Train Rentals, your train-themed birthday party will go above and beyond expectations. Not only will the train rentals be a huge success with your kids, the parents will love them too! There are many reasons for renting our trackless trains, however, we have specific special features that beat all of the other competitors such as:
- Engine Power: We use 100% electric units.
- Sound System: We use a top of the line sound system with all the favorite children’s songs.
- Design: Our units were designed by professional mechanical engineers exclusively for The Mini Express. No other company has our design.
The Mini Express would love to help WOW your audience: parents and kids alike! View prices online for all trackless train rental options. You can also view their gallery for photos and videos of people operating and enjoying The Mini Express trains. This could be you! Contact The Mini Express with any questions or book a trackless train rental online today!
This is a guest post written by Roman Randall. Roman’s first word was “truck” which was shortly followed by “train.” He’s a big fan of trains, travel, digital marketing, and epic birthday parties.
